To many, he will always be Greer Childs, chiseled Casanova from Spike Lee’s inaugural film, She’s Gotta Have It. To others, he will best be remembered as Flash in Robert Townsend’s The Five Heartbeats. And to some, his stint as the pitchman for Super Sexy Soul Volumes 1 & 2 who responded to a CD hungry associate, “No, my brother. You’ll have to get your own” will be their most lasting impression of him.

He’s John Canada Terrell and however you remember him, he’s truly one of the pioneers of modern black cinema. When Lee’s She's Gotta Have It became the first black film to cross over to a white audience when it played the world’s art houses, Terrell had already been a veteran stage actor in New York for many years. Lee’s film brought his handsome visage to an international audience.

September 2, 2009The Daily Meditator www.dangerousfool.com

And now, John Canada Terrell is taking his 35-plus years of theater experience and using it to create an unusual, thought-provoking one-man show that explains how the world really works.He’s calling it Meditations of a Dangerous Fool and is taking it to stages throughout the United States in 2009. John's meditations reflect the community work that he actively performs in real life; such as his serving as spokesperson for The Da'Ron Cox Legal Defense Fund, an organization dedicated to freeing the over - 20,000 US citizens who have been jailed for crimes they did not commit (www.daroncox.org). The Dangerous Fool doesn’t just pontificate, but he looks at the world’s problems and offers viable solutions in a world gone a bit mad.

Bryan Scott (Buffalo Bills), Chris Mann (The Wire), and Producers Roni Wheeler and John Canada Terrell on the set of White Men Can’t Rap

John Canada Terrell

John Canada Terrell in his iconic role as Flash in Robert Townsend’s The Five Heartbeats

Mr. Terrell continued acting on stage and in film throughout the 1990’s. He appeared as Todd in Eddie Murphy’s Boomerang and has appeared in more than 40 other films. His most recent national stage work was as Berry Gordy in the stage play about Marvin Gaye, titled My brother, Marvin.

In 2004, he ventured into the producer’s arena and hit pay dirt with the award-winning indie feature, White Men Can’t Rap. John said his greatest satisfaction is “working with young artists and helping them grow into true filmmakers.”

Terrell also played the role of Fleet Walker, the owner of an inner-city hip-hop club in North Philly in White Men.